Blue Frost
by tehshogundude
Summary: "A lot can happen on vacation. Visiting friends, relaxation, seeing amazing sights. However me and Mikage had no idea what as in store for us when we went skiing." JackxMikage and YuseixAki.
1. Chapter 1

Blue Frost ch 1

**Here it is, my first new story for December. I'll be honest here I have been waiting to make this for a looooong time. I have been working on this idea for a while and I am going to make this my best story. I have been planning scenes, working to perfect them since September I think. So let us begin and thank you Scooby82101 for checking this over.**

During winter, everyone tries to make their home or shop seem like the most comfortable and welcoming place in the world. The hotel lounge I was in was no different with its bright chandelier at the top of the room, shining over three leather couches that sat in front of a roaring fireplace inside the wall. A pure white soft rug laid on the floor giving into that comfortable feeling. A real living pine tree sat near the fireplace with fake snow lining the bottom and on the leaves to give it a Christmas Tree look. The whole room felt more like out of the painting of a stereotypical "perfect" household. And a family was sitting on one of the couches, fitting into that painting comparison.

Meanwhile I stuck out like a skeleton was on that painting. I looked annoyed, tired and just didn't want to get involved with anything or anyone. I sat across from the small family on the opposite

couch; I saw a kid looking at me but I ignored him.

"Hey Jack, they need your signature!" A familiar voice yelled to me. I sighed, stood up and walked towards the source of the call. Three people stood near the front desk. One was a raven haired and stoic man with a soldier like posture who stood near a woman with short wine colored hair who had cat like eyes. The voice belonged to Yusei Fudo, he always seemed like the guy who would always express happiness when he had it, and here was no different. He was smiling away along with the red haired girl next to him, Aki Izayoi. The two looked like the couple you would see on posters for Rom-com movies. Just smiling away, no problems at all, funny considering their back story.

However a third person was there as I signed my name at the front desk, a blue haired girl with a short stature and gentle face. I remember this girl too well, she's my ex-secretary, and she with that job she was my guardian. She is Mikage Sagiri. And altogether she and I looked out of place tagging along with Yusei and Aki.

I began to wonder to myself _'How did I end up on a trip like this?_' and then I remembered. It was a few weeks ago, Yusei and Aki called me, wanting to show me something. When I was in the living room of Yusei's home they explained everything.

_"A winter resort?" I asked them a little surprised._

_"Yep, we decided to go on vacation to a ski resort in Hokkaido! It's got hot springs, ice skating and skiing obviously. It looks wonderful and we decided since you've been really grouchy for a long time we decided that something like this would help you cheer up." Aki explained to me. While I wanted to criticize her for wanting to use the vacation to make me less "grouchy" instead of just to relax and have a good time, I still wanted to take up their offer as something like that would be nice even if for just a while._

_"Sure, why not. I'll come along." I told them. Yusei and Aki smiled at each other._

_Yusei and Aki had been dating for a while at that point. The two were practically made for each other, they loved playing the same games, both had similar principals in helping others and both were fierce competitors. I just knew the two would compete on the slopes with races and such. To be honest, when Yusei told me and Aki were dating, I was not surprised in the slightest. Not to mention out of any of the people she knows, Aki hangs out with Yusei the most it seems._

_"Glad to hear Jack, now get your stuff ready and find a second person..." I looked at him confused. (you're doing it again with the hair color…it's fine to use it but you're over doing it)_

_"Second person?" I asked, feeling annoyed now._

_"Right sorry we forgot to mention, we were wondering if you could bring along another person. We thought since the two of us will spend most of the vacation with each other we did not want you to feel alone so we thought you should bring along someone else." Yusei explained happily. I nodded though I wish he and Aki would have acknowledged the fact that I may have wanted to just relax for the vacation without getting involved in anything else. It bothered me a bit they had invited me but were not even going to try to hang out, but I might as well take up their offer. I had nothing better to do, so I agreed._

_"Sure I'll find someone."_

_I may have said that but finding someone was harder than I thought it was going to be. My first thought was to call Carly Nagisa, someone who while I wanted to stay just friends, sometimes thinks she and I are dating. While she can be very annoying she generally tends to not get on my nerves as much as one would think she would and most people don't believe her when she tells someone she and I are dating. I thought she would enjoy a vacation at a ski resort. However when I called her... _

_"Sorry Jack… I'd love to but I've… I've…ACHOO! Ugh, I'm down thanks to this…erk…god awful flu. Sorry, again…." The girl told me in a gravely, weezy voice. I told her it was ok and said goodbye to her._

_After my first go to person, I went and called the rest of my contacts. Where I discovered Crow was volunteering at the orphanage to help Martha out, Ushio was busy with work, Kiryu was busy with community service. I even called the woman that sat at the front desk of my old employer. Not even sure why her phone number was here, but she told me she wouldn't want to go with me anyways._

_I let out an aggravated sigh. How could everyone be busy and not me? I decided I would not want to answer my own question. I glared at my window's reflection before walking over to my desk on the other side of the room. I was tempted to slam my fist into the wall, but my landlord warned me never to do that again or he'd raise the rent. I sat at my desk then folded my arms over one another and rested my forehead against them. I tossed cell phone down with it laying idle near me. I was past the point of annoyed. I was angry. To forget my rage, I began thinking of others who could join me. I grabbed my phone, and began scrolling through my contacts list on my phone, head still placed on my arm. As I scrolled through I noticed one name who I had not tried._

_Mikage Sagiri._

_I thought to myself, "Would she be the type of person to want to go to a ski resort? Let alone with someone like me by her own choice?"_

_Mikage Sagiri was once my secretary and to be honest...I never really appreciated her, I felt as though I could do most of the things she was doing by myself. Eventually I admitted that I was wrong though I felt she had no impact on me. She was always quite shy and although kind, I still didn't really think about her often despite the fact we still bumped into each other even after she quit being my secretary._

_"Might as well give it a shot." I said to myself. I called her number and the phone rang slowly. I lifted my head up so that my speech would not be muffled by my arms and as I did the ringing stopped._

_"Hello?" I heard a soft, sweet voice heard. The undeniable voice of Mikage's._

"_Mikage?"_

_"O-Oh…Atlas-sama? I was not— How are you? It has been some time since we've talked." The woman replied to me rather excitedly._

_"Fine. Are you busy for two weeks? _

_"No, why?" Mikage replied curiously. _

_I nodded, feeling hopeful now. "You're going to come with me on Yusei and Aki's ski resort trip. They're paying for it so just pack what you need and we will come pick you up." _

_Mikage was silent for a moment. "R-Really? I well...together? That actually does sound really nice...I'd love to!" Mikage told me, sounding strangely nervous at first before suddenly gaining a confidence boost by the sounds of it._

_"Great, I'll let Yusei and Aki know you're coming." _

_"Alright then, see you later...and thank you." Mikage said as she hung up the phone as did I. I sighed and began talk to myself._

_"She's the kind of person who would not get in the way of someone unless it would hurt them. So maybe I'll get an all relaxation vacation alone after all." I said to myself, pushing myself up from the desk and made my way over to the closet to pack._

_My if only I knew..._

After I finished writing my signature all four of us took an elevator upstairs to our rooms. Aki doesn't trust me to sleep in the same room as Mikage, so she decided boys in one room and girls in the other. Didn't really bother me since the beds were separate. The hotel rooms were made to have that same "at home feel" as the lounge. Two double beds stood opposite each other in front of a large window which overlooked a good chunk of the resort. However while I would have loved to look outside at the resort, night had shrouded the area and you could not see a thing. The train ride to get here alone exhausted all of us so it was time for bed.

Later though as soon as I knew it had been enough time that everyone was asleep, lights turned off and there was no chance of the rest of the group waking up, I gently rose up from my bed, the blanket falling off of me to reveal I was still in my casual black tank top and blue jeans. I walked slowly but quietly out of the bedroom, making sure not to wake Yusei up. As soon as the door was partially open, just enough to slip myself through, I sidestepped into the hall, closing the door behind me. I sighed and started walking through the hall. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a map of the hotel that I picked up from the front desk. I opened it up and at the bottom floor, outside laid my destination, the hot springs.

I decided to go late at night because then I would not have to put up with anyone else there, I would have it all to myself. No screaming kids, no crowds, just myself.

After the elevator ride down, straight ahead was the entrance to the hot springs. I walked into the entrance and after I stripped down to only a towel in the changing room, I finally went outside into the hot springs. As soon as I came out I could feel some of the steam reach my skin. The tense feeling I had all day, even for most of the month began to disappear. The sight of the hot springs were very pleasant with the stars reflecting off of the water and the stone path around the springs. I however just wanted to get in the pool so I just planted myself inside and sighed in relief, it was something I needed for a long time. The warm water removed all the stress in my body from just going inside. I could feel the steam from the springs reach the my nose and I could feel it getting clear. I could feel goose-bumps growing on my skin from the sensation. I had found peace inside of the water.

I picked up the towel that I walked in with and dipped a part of it in the water. I rubbed the wet part on my face, relieving stress from my entire body and my face was feeling clean. I laid my head back on the edge of the pool and spread the wet part of the towel across my face. I had not felt that relaxed for too long. It was all in complete silence to boot.

However that silence worked too well as I was so used to it, I didn't hear anyone walking towards the pool. It was only when I noticed the sound of a small splash that I took the towel off my head to see who had come. When I did I looked at the newcomer in awe. I was ready for one person that night, after all it was likely impossible that I would be the only one with the idea to go that late.

However I was not ready for that person to be Mikage.

I had to admit, seeing a towel wrapped around her naked body and seeing her smooth legs, did surprise me as I never paid much attention to Mikage's body, I didn't think it would be all that umpressive , but getting a full look at her almost uncovered body made me rethink my previous judgments I even ignored her very innocent and gentle face tragically.

However Mikage looked at me just as surprised as I did and her face was painted red and she turned away.

"I-I-I am so sorry Atlas-Sama I di-did not realize you were out her too and..." The petite woman stumbled to say.

"It's alright Mikage, It's nothing. It's not like this is a private pool just for me, come on in. " The blue haired woman looked at me surprised but nodded and slowly made her way into the pool. As she gently climbed inside the pool, she sighed at the warm feeling of the water. She no doubt was feeling the same pleasure I did when I came in. She took her hands that had been soaked in the water and rubbed her face with them, fully embracing the relaxing pool. She then turned to me, looking somewhat embarrassed. I noticed and looked at her curiously.

"Atlas Sama...is it ok if I sit next to you?" I looked at her rather confused and she looked rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I'll just..."

"No, no It's fine, Jesus you're really nervous about everything aren't you?" I asked jokingly. Mikage chuckled a bit and walked over to where I was. She sat right next to me and she sighed while smiling, obviously enjoying the water as much as I was. However I noticed something as I looked at her as she sat next to me.

She looked strangely...beautiful.

I never really got close enough to Mikage to really examine her face but as I sat next to her I really got a good look. Her humble face and expression was very welcoming and her golden eyes, gleaming with life matched with her face. She looked like the type of person who would always be there for you...and thinking back then she was. She was always looking out for me, made things sometimes easier for me and I began to feel honestly...a bit guilty. Putting up with someone like me was probably a bloody nightmare.

"Hey...Mikage?" The woman turned to me, still showing her lovely smile.

"What was it like...you know? being my secretary?" I asked nervously. Mikage sighed and looked at me just as nervously.

"H-Honestly...well..., you could be quite a hassle. Sometimes you were very rebellious and quite bitter..." I honestly felt a little worse right there. Though Mikage started to smile to my surprise.

"But still...your good side shined through. You may look aggressive Jack but you're actually quite nice. You knew when to control yourself, you stand by your friends and you never give up. Whenever I got to work side by side with you, it made my day because so long as I was helping someone like you, I was happy. You were even very satisfied with the results." I looked at as if she said she saw an alien.

"Me? Thankful? You gotta be kidding?" I said beginning to chuckle. Mikage shook her head,

"No, most days you smiled and thanked me. Don't underestimate yourself Jack, you're actually quite a gentleman." I smiled right there, faint blush appearing on my face.

"Thank you Mikage...I don't think I've ever been told I was a nice guy, let alone a gentleman."

"Just...my honest feelings."

As I turned forward I notice bright marks atop the water and Mikage noticed too as we both took a look in the sky to find the source. In the direct path of our eyes laid the most beautiful night sky I had ever seen. Various formations of stars, all manner of shapes, sizes and light coated the sky. It was as if someone took a city at night and that became the night sky, it was something to behold. It honestly made me feel so small compared to it. I looked at Mikage who was also entranced by the spectacle of the luminescent stars.

"It's so...amazing..." Mikage whispered. She looked at me happily which I replied with a smile. It had been so long since I got along with someone so well. for a while I had been rather antisocial even to my friends. I was not really talking with a lot of people, going out to hang out with people etc. Something like this was quite a surprise and to be honest it was very nice. Mikage's expression and overall attitude made it all the better. She was just so welcoming and so...kind, for someone as "grouchy" as Aki would put it, as me, this was quite a welcome change.

In fact the more I looked into Mikage's eyes, I felt more relaxed and much better than before and probably more so than if I was just by myself in the hot spring to begin with. They really did glisten like gold and I felt hypnotized by them. In fact I was beginning to feel so relaxed and entranced by them that my eyes began to close and strangely I was losing control of my body. Mikage's eyes looked as if they were closing as well. When they closed fully, I felt an odd sensation on my lips, I did not know what it was but it felt so amazing. My lips moved on their own and the longer it went, the better it felt. I didn't want it to stop but I did and opened my eyes.

I saw that I kissed Mikage.

I looked at her surprised and she must of been entranced by whatever happened as well as she looked at me shocked too, blush turning her face red.

"Mikage...I" The blue haired woman turned away and pushed herself up from out of the pool and wrapped her towel around her.

"Mikage!" I called.

"Good night Atlas sama...I'm sorry." She ran away and I tried to chase her but the woman's and men's changing rooms were separate. I rushed inside and quickly opened my locker, trying to put my clothes on as fast as I could before she was gone. When I exited the changing room I looked around and saw nothing. I deduced she would be heading back to her room so I would try to intervene her there. I ran to the elevator dead ahead, a second elevator to the right of it which I knew Mikage must have took which hopefully as other people waiting to make stops.

The doors opened and thankfully no one was inside and I pressed the 7th floor where the rooms were. The elevator ride felt like it was taking an hour and I rapidly tapped my foot, hoping the thing would get there before Mikage. When the doors finally opened I ran to her room which was to the right of me but tragically I saw the door to Aki and Mikage's room close. Mikage had gotten to her room before I could make it. The last thing I wanted to do was wake up Aki and I began to think to myself maybe she needs some time to think about something like this. I walked towards mine and Yusei's room, used my key card and carefully opened the door, mimicking what I was doing earlier.

As I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I began to think to myself what I would say to her and ask her. I had to be careful after something like that and I knew I could be rash but where did that kiss come from I asked myself. I thought that tomorrow I was going to get answers.

I only got more questions though...

**Please let me know what to improve on and review, also thank you Scooby82101 for checking this over, I'm really going to enjoy writing this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Blue Frost Ch 2**

As soon as the sun began shining in my eyes the next morning, I rose as quickly as I could. I was determined to talk to Mikage about last night with her. Throughout my sleep last night I was also calculating how I would talk to her, so I'd be better prepared to explain last night. I didn't really have control of myself which probably resulted in that kiss, simple idea like that. However...even last night I kept screwing up trying to talk to her in my head. No matter what, I couldn't find a way to explain myself or even talk to her about what happened. If that was just inside my head I was a bit fearful about talking to her for real. I know Mikage is the type of person to listen to a story fully and doesn't make blind assumptions but I just knew I'd screw up talking to her and upset her. However even odder is that for most of the night I thought back to before the kiss. When I was talking to her, looking at the stars, sitting next to each other, I honestly did not know what was going on.

I sighed and decided there was no point in stalling and tried to get up before I noticed a rather heavy object on my legs.

It was a large metal tray with various breakfast staples such as waffles, mini pancakes and a cup of coffee. I smelt it and it did rather calm me down from the fear I was having during the night. I looked up to try and find where the food came from and I saw Yusei wearing a ski jacket, winter hat and appeared to be putting on other gear.

"Yusei?" I asked the man. He turned to me and smiled.

"Glad to see you're up now." Yusei says in his typical good-natured tone.

"What you all dressed up for?" I asked him. I knew what he was wearing them for but I was curious about where exactly he was going.

"I'm going to hit the slopes with Aki. Left some breakfast for you." Yusei said as he put on some boots and gloves. I suddenly looked at him a little surprised.

"Wait, is Mikage not going with you?" Yusei shook his head.

"No she's come down with a nasty cold and is going to stay in bed. I need to get going now, see you at lunch!" Yusei told me as he rushed out the door.

As soon as he left I practically inhaled the food in front of me. normally food would boost my energy or calm me down but I wanted to talk to Mikage as soon as I could. After breakfast I got quickly dressed an walked to the girls' room.

I took a deep breath and thought to myself about what to say real quick and knocked on the door lightly. Nobody answered so I knocked again.

"Hello?" I heard Mikage ask in a sickly voice which I knew was fake.

"Hey Mikage? It's Jack." The room was silent for a bit.

"Hi Jack, I can't talk right now. I'm very sick and I need to get some rest." She continued with the false voice.

"Mikage...in all the years I've known you, I know you are a terrible liar." I said in a somewhat chuckling manner. I did not get any response, I smacked myself on the head for using such a tone.

"Look...I want to talk about last night. I can understand why you don't want to come out...but please hear me out." No reply once more, I prayed she was listening. I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

"You see I...well last night I...I...I really did enjoy talking with you last night and...I'm nervous to talk about this too honestly" I said, pausing at the worst of times.

"Look...even last night after what happened...I could not stop thinking about you...not about the incident though I did think about that on occasion. But mainly, I thought about how much I enjoyed talking with you...sitting next to you...being with you in general. I've never dreamt anything like that before nor has someone stayed in my head like that...I'm honestly, curious about you Mikage." No response once more.

"I...look...bloody hell...I really don't mean to sound creepy like that but I...I really did enjoy being with you...and I was wondering if...you wanted to go around the ski resort with me...have fun, forget about the kiss, I just want to have fun with you." The door creaked open and I could see some of Mikage's face, looking at me a little surprised it seems. I tried to smile at her, but it just made me look more nervous than I already was.

"I don't know if I it's something like I really like...well I do like you but just...damn it...look I just want to hang out with you around the ski resort. What do you say?" I asked, finally managing to say what I wanted to. Mikage was silent for a bit and I slapped myself once more.

"Stupid, stupid idiot!" I whispered under my breath. However to my surprise Mikage opened the door and I saw she was smiling, and she looked very happy.

"I would love to hang out with you Jack. I just need to get in some winter clothes...and by the looks of it so do you." She told me, that sickly tone before gone with sounding more like the Mikage that I knew. I nod only once, and she shut the door going to get dressed. Moment she did, I rushed back to my room to put on some more appropriate clothes. When I was done, I stepped out into the hall to wait for Mikage. Thankfully there were mirrors on every other wall, so I could make sure that I looked ok before I went out. In my reflection I saw I was wearing a basic dark blue jacket along with some black snow pants and for the time being I wore goggles around my neck. I didn't look bad though if I do say so myself, not amazing but it would work.

Mikage on the other hand... When she walked in I was shocked when I saw her. Two words: bloody beautiful. She was wearing a white coat with two rows of black buttons down the front, to me it resembled more of a rain coat though it obviously was warm if Mikage chose to wear it. And unlike my gloves which were leather and thick, her black gloves were thin and wool that looked very soft. She also wore a black scarf around her neck with matching black ear muffs. She definitely had put more thought into her attire than me.

"Wow...you look great." I said, complimenting her. I was sincere in my words though it may sound strage coming from me. Luckily, Mikage blushed a bit and looked away, albeit smiling.

"Thank you very much Jack." She said sweetly.

I rubbed the back of my head and pointed towards the elevator, obviously I looked like I had no idea what I was doing. I had never been on a date in my life, I never even watched many movies with a vague resemblance of real dating. I wish that I had though as if I knew something like this was coming, I would have studied every single dating advice video so that I didn't look like an idiot. Mikage smiled at me, of course I let her go into the elevator first before going in myself; I was raised to be a gentleman after all. When we finally made it to the entrance which lead into the heart of the resort I looked at Mikage who looked back at me with a somewhat shy expression, matching me. She looked down at my idle hand and nervously grasped mine with hers. I looked at her a bit surprised, never expecting her to be so bold, but she looked at me with a smile combined with her shy face.

"Since were on somewhat of a date, is it ok if I hold your hand?" I said nothing, but I smiled in the same manner as she. I hadn't even bothered to correct her that it was nowhere near a date probably because it was not really a big deal to me...or maybe I didn't mind it being somewhat of a date.

We stepped outside into the morning sun shined into our eyes, I wasn't expecting such power considering it's normally the darkest time of the year. I placed my hand in front of my eyes, shielding them from the harsh sunlight. When I was no longer blind from the sun, I saw how the resort looked. While it was mostly crowded with people trying to get to wherever they needed to go, I saw how bright the snow was. It looked so smooth and the sun reflecting on it made it shine almost as bright at the sun. Mikage tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to her, she appeared to be holding an open map. She points at one point at the map, which I figured must be our destination. "Says here we need to get higher up in order to rent skis in boots."

I looked at her rather surprised. "Wouldn't we normally rent skis at the bottom?" Mikage tilted her head to the side cutely before she replied. "Says they want to be able to go skiing as quick as possible. Makes sense...I suppose." I just shrugged and we made our way to a chairlift which was straight ahead.

Thankfully the line was not too long and we got on fairly quickly. All the while however, I noticed that I was still holding Mikage's hand. I looked around and saw some people smiling at us. Did they think we were a couple? I told myself _'People get excited over everything, it's nothing'_ but even then I also wondered it does turn out I really like Mikage after this and maybe other dates, would I get this often? What would she think? Would she like attention like this or even recuperate my feelings back? I could not think for long as we had to board the chairlift straight ahead.

Going up the chairlift, I looked around the resort and I was amazed by the whole scope of the resort. It seemed like the whole world around me was blocked off by the mountains coated by trees, frozen rivers, and snow. The sun reflecting on the snow made the mountains look like a beacon that one could see miles away. I looked towards Mikage who was looking down on the ground below in amazement. I looked at her confused before I did too and I realized how high we were . Everyone below us looked more like little toys than they did real people. It all seemed so grand and beautiful to me. Keep in mind I had spent most of life in a grungy run down town and a crowded city so this is all so new to me. I saw pictures of mountains, resorts, and etc. on the internet but they could never compare to the real thing...to truly experience it. Also it may seem kind of stupid but on that chairlift, I felt like I was flying. I've been on a helicopter or even a plane before but never had I been that close to the sky.

"It's so amazing...just being up this high." Mikage said, perfectly encapsulating my thoughts about this whole scenario. We stepped back onto the ground, it almost felt disappointing to be removed from the sky. Though I knew I'd be gliding on snow soon so the disappointment was brief. The ski rental shop was dead ahead of us so me and Mikage entered. It was the typical tiny and wooden hut with modern heating, but it wasn't very strong.

After we were done getting our ski boots, poles and skis we carried them outside and placed them on the ground when we were close enough to the slope. We stepped into them, they clicked into place and using the poles we carefully moved our way closer to the slope. The way down seemed very steep and smooth. By the way the slope had been formed it looked as if it used to be a waterfall, perhaps frozen due to the freezing temperature. Thankfully there was no one else down there so me and Mikage could go when we wanted. But I noticed something about her, she looked a little terrified. "You ok?" She turned to me, keeping her expression colored with fear.

"I can't believe it...I forgot that I've never been skiing before..." I looked at her surprised. Mikage laughed nervously, her form shaking and I knew it wasn't from the cold. "Well hopefully you can help me out right?" The surprise doubled and I gulped a bit. She stared at me then in horror. "You've...never been skiing either?" I nodded my head. I was so focus on spending the day with her I forgot I did not know how to ski really. _'Blooming brilliant Jack...'_ I thought to myself.

"Well if it's any consolation...I've seen how they do it in movies and the Olympics...doesn't look to hard." I held my hands in front of myself as if I were holding a steering wheel. "Just keep out your hands like this, keep turning using your ankles. Be sure to make long distances between turns if you want to go slowly. The longer the distance, the slower you'll go." I tried explaining the best I could to her. She calmed down a bit but still looked worried. I don't blame her. We inched closer towards the slope, if we took one more step we would slide down the snow. We both take a deep breath and prepared ourselves.

"I'm going to try going fast down this, doesn't look like anything would collide into me. See ya!" I exclaimed, pushing myself down. As soon as I started going down I felt the wind thrashing against my face. The wind was going so fast against me, the sounds of the gusts overpowered Mikage's scared squeals as she went slowly down I presumed. Meanwhile I was flying across the snow, I could feel adrenaline building up inside me as I went down. All I could hear was the sound of my skis grinding against the terrain of ice and snow. I felt as though I were an eagle flying as I sped down the hill. I crouched down in order to make myself go faster. I was loving every minute of it...until.

"Jack look out!" I heard Mikage yell, but before I could look up to see what she was referring to I crashed into a heap of snow. When I did, snow piled upon me to the point I was almost completely buried. Thankfully my head was poking out of the pile so I could breath, but I could barely move the rest of my body. I could hear Mikage ski closer to me. "Hold on Jack! I'll help you!" she told me.

"Thanks...not as if I had been planning on doing that! Bloody hell!" I shouted rather bitterly. I know there are better ways to respond but I was freaking out and when I do I tend not to think about being a gentleman all too much. She dug her hands through the snow and I did my best to dig as well. When we dug through enough so I could get loose however, I fell into the weakened snow and got buried _again_. Thankfully it was weak enough so I could stand up and it fell off. However as I stood up, Mikage looked at me happily and started chuckling a bit.

"What's so funny?" I asked, annoyance laced throughout my tone.

"The snow that's still on your face makes you look like you have a beard." Mikage explained while chuckling. I instantly scrubbed the snow off and chuckled with her a bit. It was rare to see me laugh let alone chuckle, so when I was done chuckling I was a bit surprised considering I normally I wasn't a big fan of jokes or silly things like that usually, especially if they were towards me. But that day I hadn't mind really, I just went along with it. I just felt strangely...happy. Was it because I was on vacation or was it because I was with Mikage? I don't know.

And at that moment it did not matter as for the rest of the slope we slowly skied down to the next ski rental place a couple yards near a chair lift. Obviously we were too inexperienced to use skis so thankfully there was one close by on the map where we could trade them in for something I know how to use, a sled. When I was a kid in the Satellite, whenever it snowed I went sledding on the various hills and I was a sledding master. Thank god, the shops had a sled for adults, otherwise the way down would have taken longer than we hoped for.

However after we had returned the skis and boots and came out with a sled, I noticed something at the back of the rather long line for the chairlift. Two people, one woman with bright red hair and another with spiky black hair with yellow highlights.

Yusei and Aki.

I looked to my left and saw the way down the slope lead straight to the resort; no turns, no rocks, not even that much people. The closest thing to an obstacle was a large pile of snow that stood in between the chairlift and slope.

An evil plan grew within my head.

I placed the sled near the pile at an angle so it pointed towards the slope. Mikage looked at me confused as I went to the snow pile and made balls out of the frozen substance. "Jack what are you doing?" I moved towards her and started to whisper in her ear whilst wearing an evil smile.

"Yusei and Aki are at the back of the line for the chair lift. I'm gonna throw some snowballs at them and when they start fighting back, were going to escape using the sled." Mikage looked at me surprised and while Mikage is not fan of "rough" games like snowball fights, she knew they didn't really hurt anyone too much on purpose and said nothing. So naturally I decided she should have the first throw, handing over the first snowball I had made.. "How about you have a throw Mika." She looked at me shocked after she took it from me.

"Oh well... I can't, I probably can't hit them from over here anyways." Mikage nervously replied, squeezing the snowball in her hands while I just chuckled. "It's fine, just toss it as hard as you can, they're pretty much open targets, the line does not look like it's moving." She nodded nervously and aimed her snowball, I noticed her angle was rather...poor though I should have expected it. I put my hand on hers and slowly got her arm in the right position. Though, that same feeling from when I was holding her hand earlier returned, her hand felt so warm. It felt so out of place considering the events about to unfold but it felt so...comforting, it almost made me forget we were going to throw a snowball at Yusei and Aki.

However when her arm was placed into the right position, I let go and told her to fire away. Mikage shut her eyes and tossed the ball into the air. I watched it fly and fall towards the couple. The ball then hit Aki on her uncovered neck.

Direct hit.

Aki turned around and had the same restraint anyone would have during something like this.

"Who the hell threw that!?" Yusei turned around too and they obviously saw Mikage standing near the snow pile and she was beginning to shake with fear from those two looking towards her.

"Hey Mika, did you see someone throw...Wait what are you doing out of..." Yusei began to ask before I took one of my premade snowballs and threw it straight at his mug, another direct hit. Yusei scrubbed the snow off and looked at me with pure, unbridled revenge in his expression.

"You're going to regret that, Jack." Yusei said with contempt in his voice. He looked as if he would kill me and looked positively terrifying.

I threw another snowball at his face of course.

Aki however started scooping some of her own then.

"Quick! Mikage! Start making some balls and tossing as many as you can!" she nodded anxiously and we started making mass producing snow balls quickly, mass producing them. Aki and Yusei started tossing there balls and thankfully the pile made great cover though sometimes balls still hit me and Mikage. Slowly though, the meek girl started enjoying the game more and more, aiming more strategically. I almost felt a built guilty turning the normally gentle girl into a somewhat hardcore fighter. We soon started even throwing in unison on occasion, bombarding the two. After a while though they were managing to get closer and closer to us to the point where they were a couple feet in front of the pile.

"Mikage, time to escape!" I told her.

"Roger." Mikage told in the style of a military general. I sat down at the back of the sled while she sat up front. I held the strings to turn the sled tight and pushed ourselves down the slope. The same speed from when we were skiing returned, if not faster. In the distance I could hear Aki yelling.

"You'll pay for this Jack Atlas! You will pay!" I just chuckled and paid attention to the slope in front of us...or at least that's what I had in mind.

When I was sledding down the mountain I just noticed that Mikage was sitting basically on my lap, the closest we had been since that night. It was rather surprising, I know I should have been focusing on the slope and it normally would not be that big of a deal but it felt strangely...comforting and nice. She felt so warm, warmer than any of the snow gear I had on at that time. I noticed something else from her sitting so close, she seemed to be wearing some form of perfume or something because she didn't have the smell someone who wouldn't did. She smelled of jasmine and she smelled very...nice actually. I was a bit surprised by it, it was just a little get together between friends, not really a date. Though as much as I say that it did feel remarkably like a date and I was actually curious if there could be feelings for Mikage that stretched out a little more than friends. Though I wondered...was it the same for Mikage?

After a while the sled slowed down precisely in the center of the resort. We got up and stretched for a minute and Mikage took out that map again. "Says here there is a place to return sleds down a bit..." Mikage suddenly looked at the map in a very surprised but also very excited manner. I looked at her confused, she looked at me with those eager eyes.

"It's right near a frozen lake where we can go skating." I looked at her in confusion before I replied with, "I didn't know you like skating?"

"Oh yes, I love it. When I was little girl, my mother and father took my sister and I skating all the time during winter. I loved it so much and it's been a while since I skated, probably because I've been so busy." Mikage explained, smiling at the memory of her younger years. She folded up the map then placed it inside her jacket's pocket.

"Okay then, let's go." I told her smiling. We started walking towards a pathway in the plaza which led to the lake. She seemed excited to go though kept the restraint Mikage usually had. I actually wanted her to do something she loved doing and I wouldn't mind doing it with her...even if I've never been skating before. But, I did not want to spoil her fun nor to worry about me not being with her on the frozen lake, besides might as well give it a try and hopefully it will be better than skiing.

When we arrived the size of the lake was bigger than I expected. It was about the size of how normal ice rinks looked to me. Strangely there was no one else skating on the lake. It was going to be just me and Mikage...whoever is running this universe sure has a great sense of humor.

After returning the sled and renting some skates at the shop nearby, we walked back to the rink, still empty. Thankfully there was a bench near the lake so we could put our skates on. Finished putting them on, I walked very carefully onto the ice, still trying to get used to wearing the things. It worse when I stepped onto the ice. Mikage naturally skated very gracefully, showing that she really had skated many times before...I just stumbled a bit and fell on the ice like an idiot. Mikage skated over and kneeled down. She held her hand out while keeping her humble smile and I took it without a second thought.

Once I got on my feet I felt like I was going to fall again. Mikage held my arms to keep me steady which thankfully worked.

"Just keep the blades of your skates steady on the ground, as if they were just regular shoes." I nodded, trying to and after calming down a bit they felt like they were finally in place. She let go of my arms and she started to skate around the rink slower than she did earlier.

"Watch my feet and move yours like this." She was skating similar to how I was skiing earlier by using her ankles and pushing them against the ground to move. I followed but not nearly as quickly as she did, one step at a time. I got used to it after a while and soon I could skate around the lake decently. Though, I still felt and looked like I was going to fall at any time. Mikage must have noticed because she skated towards me. She held her hands out and grasped them hastily, trying to get steady.

"Sorry, I just don't want to fall on my bum like I did earlier." I said somewhat chuckling. Mikage turned to my left side while still holding my hand. She stuck my hand out in a position similar a tango while keeping another arm on my back, all the while I looked at her confused. But she just kept that same smile.

"Just follow my lead." I nodded, not really knowing what else to do. She pushed us off and started skating and I did my best to copy her motions. I was nervous at first but then I saw how smoothly we began to skate on the frozen lake. After a while, I didn't have that feeling I was going to fall at any moment. In fact, skating like that, as gracefully as she did, felt wonderful. I felt like I was beginning to glide on the ice, I almost felt like I could start flying from how weightless I felt. I looked at Mikage, I understood why she loved skating and I felt as though I was flying with her by my side. It felt as though we were almost dancing together. I really enjoyed it, I wanted to continue this with her.

"I'm going to let go of your back now. Spin me." I looked at her shocked but as soon as I did she released her arm from my back and skated in front of me. I used my hand which still clung to hers and followed what she said and spun her. I let go of her when she started spinning and she spun as gracefully as she skated earlier. As she spun her hair as short as it was, flowed like a river and she just amazed me with her agility upon something that would normally make you stumble and fall. After a couple spins she stopped and I could do nothing but applaud her.

"That was bloody amazing!" I exclaimed to her. She blushed a bit but a warm smile graced her face as she did.

"Thank you Jack." She replied shyly.

"I don't get it though, here you are, an agile skater who could not doubt win several competitions or even teach skating. Why did you end up being a secretary for some jerk like me...or hell even a police officer?" I asked in a rather confused tone. Mikage spun around a bit before looking right back at me with those gentle eyes.

"I could have...you're right. But there is one thing I love more than skating. I like helping people and it may seem basic but secretary is a job in which you are helping and caring for someone. As for police officer, I wanted to protect the people I care about and help people. It's as simple as that really, sounds silly am I right?" Mikage said, chuckling a bit. I smiled ass warmly as I could at her.

"No...you're completely wrong...I think that's really wonderful." The woman smiled at me as she continued to skate around the lake a bit.

"I really wish I could be as well...nice as that...really I'm kind of a jerk really." Mikage skated over to me and sighed.

"Didn't we talk about this? You are really nice Jack, you just complimented me a second ago didn't you? You care about a lot of people Jack, why do you doubt yourself so much?" My smile disappeared and I sighed.

"I don't know really...maybe it's because after you left I started looking back on our years together and realized what a jerk I was. Maybe it was because of me stealing from Yusei or something along the lines of that." Mikage placed her arms on my shoulders and looked at me with her gentle eyes that were also full of concern.

"Jack...I never complained about working with you, I loved helping you. Also, if not for you stealing from Yusei you would not have come to New Domino City where you would meet me and Yusei would have no reason to come and meet Aki. Not only that, but you changed so many lives." Mikage pointed out, I looked at her confused and surprised.

"Really...I ended up doing that much from something like that?" Mikage nodded.

"Yes Jack...even with some of the most negative of outcomes, there are some positive ones. The future can be unpredictable like that." I smiled at her and she did the same.

"Thank you Mikage. We should probably be getting back to the hotel now for lunch, Yusei and Aki are going to meet up with us back at our rooms."

"Ok then, let's go." The petite woman said warmly.

Later on after returning everything we rented we went back to our rooms to meet with Yusei and Aki. I got a text saying they'd meet us in the hall...but.

"Strange...where are they?" Mikage in a concerned tone. I looked around and I could not see them either. However when I turned my back towards the girls' room I heard a bit of a squeak...and then...

"SURPRISE YOU SICK MONKEY!" I heard a familiar voice yell. Before I could turn to look though suddenly it felt like my back had been frozen, in no time I figured out it was ice and snow that had been poured down my shirt that made me feel like my entire body was frozen as it made its way down. I turned around in my state of chilled panic, only to see that the perpetrator was Aki.

"That's for your little attack Jack." Aki said in a triumphant tone, I didn't listen though as I was too busy shaking the snow out of my shirt. Mikage just looked at the whole scenario in awe at the out of nowhere attack. After I had gotten the snow out, Yusei walked out of the girls' room as well.

"Sorry, I let her do it because I wanted revenge too...Also Mikage I thought you were sick?" Mikage began to look a little nervous having lied about her illness.

"Well I felt better after a while and I bumped into Jack so we went skiing together for a bit." She explained. The Yusei said ok and by that time I finally felt warm again, albeit a bit wet.

"Right then, let's go grab lunch."

"Wait, you're not going to attack me back for shoving snow down your shirt?" I shook my head.

"No, I just had a lot of fun with Mikage so I'm in a good mood. You are free...this time." I told her while saying the last part in a somewhat cocky tone. We began walking to the elevator with Aki and Yusei leading but meanwhile at the back with me and Mikage. I whispered into her ear. "I had a wonderful time, I haven't felt this happy in a long time. Maybe tomorrow we can have some more fun?" Mikage looked at me and smiled that ever humble smile.

"Of course Jack, I would love to."

**Please let me know what to improve on and thank you Scooby82101 for looking this over. Also the ending is going to be delayed a bit (delaying two stories for another, GO ME!) Though to be fair this is one I have planned out for a long time, almost to the point I can tell what happens on the fly so it won't take long. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Blue Frost ch 3**

I should be ever thankful that the hotel rooms had big mirrors in them. They were probably only used for decoration but I needed something like that more than ever right there. It was the last night we were spending at the resort and since it was the late winter season, there was a grand dance & dinner on the ground floor. I normally would have no interest in dances but considering the group I was with, I did not have much of a choice. And besides, I actually kind of wanted to dance with Mikage. Now it was not because I was in love or had a crush on her or something like that...it was because I don't know about if I really like her or not.

Yes, even when we were on the last night, I still have not made up my mind. I liked a lot about her, but I did not know whether or not I really did like her in the sense most people think of. I decided to go to that dense as think of it as my deciding point. If I do have a wonderful time than I really do like her, if not...actually I have not thought much about that. I guess I had so much fun previously I basically ignored any possible negative events.

I took another look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a white business-like suit with three gold buttons down the front along with a purple ascot around my neck, a pair of black dance shoes finished the outfit. I took a deep breath and wondered if I looked good enough for an event like a dance, I wanted to look my best, especially with a possible lover. I actually thanked my lucky stars that the dinner was a double date between all four of us with Yusei and Aki naturally being with each other, leaving Mikage with me. No way could I handle a dinner between us, romantic or not, alone.

Yusei stepped out of the bathroom while wearing a very posh looking black polo shirt and a pair of brown trousers'. Not as poncey as my choice of attire but then again Yusei was never known to be flashy (save for his hair). I gave him a thumbs up to let him know he looked good and he smiled, taking a look down at his wrist watch as well.

"Jack, we better be going. The girls are probably outside waiting for us." I nodded my head and we left our hotel room.

Just as Yusei thought, Aki was waiting outside for us, playing around a bit on her cell phone before putting it away and smiling at us. She was wearing a red cocktail dress and white gloves, as However I noticed very quickly that Mikage was absent from the halls. I looked towards Aki confused.

"Say where is Mikage?" I asked, looking around the halls for her. Aki just smiled at me as if I never asked my question and just kept smiling away.

"Oh she's still inside, still getting herself ready." Aki explained, pointed towards the door with her thumb. A couple seconds later the door opened and I looked it intrigued, anticipating the woman to come through.

And by god did she look astounding. She came out wearing a black silk dress which appeared darker than the winter night sky, it stopped at her ankles and it looked very comfortable. The straps of the dress slid around her neck into a bow, the sides poking out behind her neck. It did not look uncomfortable in the slightest. To any other eyes, she would simply look pretty but nothing more, to me though she looked bloody beautiful. I also noticed she was posed differently, her arms rested atop one another in front of her while she turned away exposing her side which showed me most of her back appeared exposed. Almost to the waist even, reminding me of when we were together in the hot springs and how beautiful her skin looked. On her face she wore a bright, loving expression which made me smile back at her. She looked to gorgeous for words or at least words I knew of.

"Wow...you look great." I said to her, scratching the back of my head. Mikage blushed a bit while keeping a warm smile.

"You look great too." She said to me rather shyly. I noticed Aki looking at me intrigued and I just prayed to god that she did not get any ideas about me and Mikage. But my fears certainly did not reflect in my actions as I bowed a bit and made an inviting gesture with my arms to the elevator.

"Ladies first." I said as civilized as I could. I looked up to see Mikage blushing a bit but still smiling while walking to the elevator. Aki followed but looked at me rather suspiciously, I just ignored her simply with Yusei and I following behind the two.

When we finally arrived to the gala, one look around and I already felt horribly out of place. The music was primarily classic dance music which was reflected terrifically in how everyone here was dressed far more elegantly than any one of us. My eyes squinted thanks to the light shining down from the various crystal chandeliers hanging high above us, the ight reflecting through them bathing the whole room in a rainbow of colors. Various tables with pure white table clothes with expensive looking white chairs matched the room. They circled an enormous dance floor where I could see the a variety of people dancing. I found the source of the music being done by a live band playing at the far back of the room on a stage. The more I looked around, the more I felt like I was not going to make it through the night

A man wearing a very clean and fancy white shirt and bowtie walked in front of us and looked at a clipboard he was holding.

"Name please?" He asked.

"Yusei Fudo, Aki Izayoi, Jack Atlas and Mikage Sagiri." Yusei told him as the man wrote something on his clipboard.

"Thank you very much, just go to the table straight ahead and a waiter will be with you soon. Feel free to go on the dance floor." The man said, walking away and he followed his instructions and walked over to the nearest table. Once we all sat down, Aki looked around in wonder at the large ballroom.

"Wow...was not expecting something like this when we started planning our vacation." Aki said, somewhat chuckling.

"I was just expecting snow, not bloody ballroom dancing. What do you think Mikage?" I said while looking around astonished.

"I think it's a nice surprise. After all if everything goes as you expected than life would get boring or things you don't want to happen but think they will, definitely will happen." She explained as a waiter placed some water filled glasses on our table. After the waiter did Aki held up her glass.

"I'll drink to that. Speaking of the future though as odd as that may sound, what are we planning for when we get back?" The redhead asked before drinking some of her water.

"Going back to work I guess..." Mikage said, sighing a bit, no doubt at the thought of going back to work after vacation.

"Yeah, to be honest I'm not exactly looking forward to heading back. I mean we've probably barely scratched the surface of what this place has to offer." Yusei added to the conversation. Everyone sighed and just drank some of their water, not even looking at each other.

"But I know one thing Jack and Mikage can do." Aki said. Mikage and I looked at her a bit surprised and curious. However inside I grew horribly terrified by the fact she said, Jack and Mikage.

"Mikage, you and Jack should go dance!" She exclaimed in an excited manner. Mikage and I just looked at each other both embarrassed and shocked. Did she find out about us? Was she just playing tricks? I turned back to her with fear evident on my face.

"Wait a minute Aki, I..." I tried to say something to her but in what seemed like lightning fast speed she spun around behind us, pulled me and Mikage up, spun us around and pushed me into the crowd. As soon as I turned around to get back to the table though...

"He's all yours!" Aki exclaimed, pushing Mikage into me, I grabbed her so that we both did not fall, putting us in a position as if we were dancing. We looked at each other and separated with blush evident on our faces, but before we could escape the dance floor, several couples dancing got in our way and we were trapped. The couples in front of us were too entranced in their dance to hear us. Hell I could not even see our table above the crowd as much as I tried.

"Damn it...we're trapped." I said to Mikage as the space around us seemed to get smaller, forcing us to get closer together. She was standing right in front of me and at some point we were inevitably going to be shoved into each other. I looked around for any escape route but there was no hope. But then I thought that due to the crowd, Aki and Yusei would be unable to watch so if there were any excuse for me and Mikage to dance it would be here. On top of that, the thought of dancing with her was not a bad one, in fact I rather wanted to try it. Mikage looked at me curiously as I thought to myself and when I was done thinking, I smiled and held out my hand in a gentleman-like fashion. I stood up straight and held out my hand for her and she looked at me rather surprised.

"May I have this dance?" I asked her in as civilized of a tone as I could. Mikage looked at me with more shock and even blushed but she smiled calmly after a bit and held my hand.

"Of course." She told me, somewhat chuckling and we got closer together. I wrapped my arm around her waist and we raised our joined hands on my left hand side. I had to be careful as I had little to no experience with dancing, let alone with someone of Mikage's size. I listened to the music for a bit to study the rhythm and carefully moved my feet to the tune of the music.

I moved very carefully with to the music, making sure not to step on her feet, crash into the other dancers and look like an idiot. Needless to say, the last one was not working out so well. I looked like I was about to explode at any second and I had this stupid grin on my face. Mikage giggled at me and I felt mortified.

"Don't feel like you're dancing with the queen. It's just a friendly dance, you can loosen up a bit." She said sweetly to me. I took a deep breath and sighed, the stupid grin being replaced with a much more casual smile. I slowed down a bit and swayed with her gently. I made sure to not hit anyone while still moving in rhythm with her. Eventually, I started to get the hang of it and I was doing ok. Not nearly as elegantly as the other dancers around us but good enough and we didn't mind.

I stopped paying attention to my footwork and instead kept my eyes on the woman in front of me. I never really noticed how beautiful she was considering I've just ignored her when she was my secretary. These past few days though completely changed my opinion of her. Back then, I probably would never imagine that I would dance with her. But there I was, and I was loving it. As we swayed to the music it felt as though we were the only ones in the room and we had the entire room to ourselves. As I looked at her, I got hypnotized by her glistening golden eyes. They were so warm and inviting, the complete opposite of my cold, violet eyes. She moved a bit closer to me, her eyes slowly shutting. I let go of her hands and wrapped mine around her waist. She placed her hands on my shoulders and rested her head on my chest.

"This is so...wonderful..." Mikage whispered. She looked so at piece leaning against me.

"Of course it is...I'm dancing with someone like you." I whispered back to her. Our eyes came back into contact and our faces began to move closer to each other. My eyes slowly closed as did hers and soon enough.

Our lips connected.

Unlike the night before, This felt a lot more entrancing and less of a shock. I knew what I was doing. I wanted to kiss her and I'm sure she wanted to as well. I put all the passion, all the emotion, all the love I had in me in that kiss, just to let her know how much she meant to me. Undecided about whether I loved her or not, I did not care, I still wanted to let her know.

Eventually we separated but unlike last night we just looked at each other happily and embraced once more. I began to feel so warm then. Not even during the day before did I feel like that. It felt as though my once cold persona was beginning to melt. As cheesy as that sounds, I honestly did felt like that and I did not want to part away from it.

But alas, eventually we saw an opening in the crowd that lead back to the table and we exited whilst separated. We walked back to our table where what appeared to be a very frustrated Aki sat. Her cheek rest against her fist while she looked at us with her annoyed looking eyes. Yusei meanwhile was sitting behind looking at his girlfriend curiously.

"Something wrong Aki?" Mikage asked her. She looked back at the questioner with the same attitude in her eyes.

"I know you two were dancing together in there, but the crowd got in the way so I couldn't watch. shame, it was probably so cute." Aki said sighing. Mikage blushed at her answer while I just looked at her confused.

"A-a-actually Jack and I just...stood there until we could find a way out." The meek woman said, mumbling on some of her words. Aki looked at her as if she did not believe her and to be fair it was not exactly a good excuse. However while at first, Aki looked at Mikage suspiciously, in a short amount of time she grew a smile on her face as if she believed her (or at least I hoped so). She looked as if the problem she brought up never occurred.

"Ok then...By the way guys. I need to ask a favor." We looked at Aki perplexed as well as Yusei.

"Since it's the last night and all, I was wondering if it's possible for me and Yusei to share a room together. Just the two of us and Mikage can sleep in Jack's room?" We just looked at her as if she told us my home exploded. This was even more baffling than the "suggestion" of us dancing. Even Yusei looked at her confused but before he could ask a question, I asked mine.

"Wait? What?!" I asked, dumbfounded. Aki sighed and looked at us with eyes that were a lot more serious.

"Please, it's just one night and you have separate beds remember? Just sleep separately." I looked at her a bit surprised but sighed. She did make a good point.

"Alright then...fine with me. Mikage?" The meek woman nodded nervously as well and while Aki cheered in celebration with Yusei who just looked at the whole situation wondering what just happened. Me and Mikage looked at each other with eyes full of worry. we had barely just danced together and now we were supposed to share a room?

After the dinner and dance, it was time to head to our rooms. Me and Mikage stood outside the door the my room, holding whatever she needed for the night. Before I even opened the door, I watched Yusei and Aki gleefully enter their room. It was going to be easy for them to sleep together considering they were an actual couple, but for me and Mikage it was going to be a lot more difficult.

I opened the door for her and welcomed her in, trying to act natural but you could tell how nervous I was, as you could with Mikage who I noticed was shaking a bit as she walked into the room. I followed very slowly into the still dark room and I noticed she was standing in the middle of the room, staring out the huge window which took up the space where normally a wall would be. I looked at her confused and walked slowly to the side of her. I noticed she had warm smile on her face, she looked as if she completely calmed down compared to just a minute ago. I looked at her shocked and looked out the window for what may of calmed her.

I looked out the window too and...I was just amazed by what I saw. On the previous nights at the hotel whenever I went to my room, all I did was sleep there at night with no other plans, let alone look out the window. But honestly, the view from the window was more beautiful than the night sky from the first night at the resort. A lot of the resort was lit up for the holiday season and the light reflecting on the snow had a rather beautiful effect. I could see some of the patrons at the resort having fun outside, skating and partying which reminded me of when I went skating with Mikage and that made me smile. But the most astonishing thing was once again the night sky, however on this night, I could see more of it than the previous night. I could see all the stars, what I assumed to be galaxies and even the moon was full that night. The moon was so full in fact, it was bright enough to light the room which was still dark. I've got to admit, I understand why it made Mikage smile. It made us forget about the stress we were had earlier...for the most part.

Eventually we moved away from that spot and we got ready for bed, doing the usual routine, it felt like it was going to be a normal night after all. I was actually kind of surprised at how mundane it all was...Until it was actually time to go to bed. As me and Mikage stood in the middle of the room, the awkwardness began to rise again. I scratched the back of my head, trying to think of what to honestly said.

"Well...I guess, goodnight?" I said to her. But then Mikage asked a question that I'd never thought would come up.

"Actually...Jack...I kind of..." She begun to say nervously, her head was tilting down as if she were embarrassed by what she was going to ask.. I looked at her curiously.

"I kind of...want to sleep in the same bed...with you tonight." She said, eyes shut from fear of my reaction. I looked at her shocked, the most shocked during this whole vacation. Where did that come from? Why did that come up? Hell, my face said everything, I did not even need to ask those questions.

"It's just that...for some reason...I don't know why I want to. But I just..." Mikage tried to explain to no avail and with her answer came more questions I had. But what confused me the most was that, the more I thought about the more...the idea seemed attractive. I know it's strange considering how nervous I was with just sleeping in the same room separately and yet I want to sleep in the same bed with her. But now I understood why Mikage was nervous to ask her question, I couldn't explain it either and it was a rather surprising thing to want, especially from two people who weren't dating in the usual sense of the world.

"Oh well then. I suppose you can sleep with me...Wait, no I don't mean in that sense I mean..." I said to her, stumbling on my words making it sound as if I wanted to...never mind. Mikage blushed immensely and really, could you blame her?

Though thankfully she knew what I meant and we climbed into bed. Before I did though, I shut the curtains so that the light didn't come in and shine in our eyes. As I shut the curtain, I looked at Mikage in the bed, she looked so peaceful. and the moon shining on her made her look like what I assumed Snow White looked like when she was asleep as a child.

I smiled as I finished shutting the curtains and I climbed into the bed. I kept a distance from Mikage while in the bed so that she didn't feel uncomfortable sleeping next to me. I must admit, it was also because I was nervous sleeping next to her and I slept facing away from he...or at least I tried to. I had some short bursts of sleep but none for more than a couple minutes. I had no idea why, it was really starting to bug me though. I kept moving around, trying to get comfortable, but it seemed that nothing would help me. I sat up and moved the blanket off of me. I stretched some parts of my body, thinking my back needed to be cracked or something. However that wasn't a problem at all which really pissed me off.

I sighed and looked at Mikage, she had been sleeping so quietly, I wondered if she was doing something that I was not. All I really noticed from her sleeping was that she changed the direction she was facing to me and nothing else. I turned around towards the closed window, I sighed heavily while facing the wall. I thought maybe there was something I needed to think about and it was preventing me from sleeping. I then began to think about what was troubling me and the answer...or rather question popped in my head instantly.

In the morning we were going to leave the hotel and head home and yet I still have not made my decision. Did I love Mikage or not? I had been asking myself this question throughout the whole vacation and I promised myself I'd have an answer by the end of the vacation...so much for that. I knew I had fun with her during the vacation. I really enjoyed our date on the second day, I loved dancing with her and as unexpected as it was, looking back on it, I did like being in the hot springs with her.

While I did love doing all of that, those were just the positive moments and not the long term effects. I'm aware of a lot of the trouble that can go on during dating, the arguments, the fights, everything. I asked myself if I am the type of guy who can take that kind of responsibility? I looked at the curtained window growing more and more frustrated, I began to see some of the possible bad outcomes that could happen between me and Mikage if we dated. I didn't want any of that happening, I wanted her to be happy..

Let's face it, we were meant to be friends...if you could even call us that. I have been so cold to her throughout these years, I know she said I could be a gentleman but surely someone as smart as her had her limits? I thought to myself that something like this was surely a fluke. It was nice while it lasted but it was time to let her go. She deserved someone better than me, I was a petty little jerk...plain and simple. Why should someone like her date someone like that. In the morning I would tell her that it would be better for us not to be together. I sighed and began to turn around to get back into the bed, but I felt something wrapped around me.

When I looked to see what it was, I saw Mikage's gentle arms wrapped around my waist. I was shocked to see her doing something like this, but even more surprising was the warm smile on her face. I thought to myself she's just having a dream and that she probably does not realize she's hugging me. I placed my right hand on hers but before I could move her hand, she interlaced her fingers with mine.

"Jack..." I heard her whisper. My eyes widened, I nearly gasped. Did I really just heart that? She must have known that she was embracing me then. I wondered why she would intentionally want to embrace me. And then...the more I thought about it, the more I realized that when I was with her, she also looked very happy and was enjoying all the moments we had together. Maybe...she would be happy dating me. Though while I may not be enough for her...I told myself I was going to go beyond what I normally am, just for her.

I smiled at her and carefully lied back down, making sure not to separate her arms from my waist. I turned towards her side, my face facing hers. I carefully wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the lips before I finally began to fall asleep. Before I did though I notice the smile on her sleeping face expand and when I saw that, mine did as well. I began to feel comfortable and warm within the arms of Mikage and hopefully she did within mine. The rest of the night, I did not wake up for anything, neither did she. We were so enraptured by the embrace by one another that we dare not ruin the peace.

**And here we are now...**

"Jack, hurry the train's here!"

"We're coming!" I bellow, turning my head to the right seeing Mikage is standing right by my side. She looks up at me with those beautiful golden eyes.

"You ready?" She asks me. I just nod my head.

We start to walk to the train, it's time to head home. Looking back, this was a wonderful vacation. I went out of my comfort zone and did some things I normally would not do, went to a place I've never been before and got to pelt Yusei with a snowball! But the most striking thing to me was that I somehow managed to find a woman who I possibly love, someone who I can be there for and be there for me. I wish I had done something back this when we were still under the command of Godwin as I would not have wanted to miss out on the possibility of love.

And as I held her hand tight, so tight as so nothing could separate us, I knew that Mikage would not have wanted to either and it seems that love is going to be the outcome for us.

I will be waiting.

**Please let me know what to improve on and I'm sorry this took a while, I had finals which delayed some of my stories due to studying. Hope you enjoyed this though and don't worry, Rose Buds will continue soon.**


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